Shulammite Carrot Soap Review

I learned about Shulammite carrot soap through my cousin.  I noticed her fairer skin. Actually, WE noticed her fairer skin, my mom, my aunts, my sister-in-law.  She told me she's been using the soap for many months already before we noticed the glow in her skin.

At first, I was hesitant because I thought it was just a facial soap since it's printed on the box "Anti-Acne, Oil Regulating, Skin Clarifying."  But decided to give it a try  since I learned that carrot soaps can be anti-aging too.

I used the soap only at night. I tried it on my son too. My mom tried it too. My husband tried it too.  We witnessed the effectiveness of the soap through my cousin that's why we were all so ecstatic to try it.

I am fair skinned to begin with.  I just want to even-out my skin since I don't always use sunblock when going out.  

Pros:

1. I like the packaging because the soap is still packed in plastic inside the carton box.

2. Shulammite has micro peeling effect.
3. The smell is good and very mild.

4. The soap is mild too as my 5 year old son who loves to swim uses it too. No harsh effect on him.

5. My dad noticed that my mom's skin glowed while using the soap that he wanted to use it too.

6. True to its word. It whitens.

Con:

1. Pricey. Php 109.75 for a bar of soap.

2. Melts easily.
3. Since it has micropeeling effect, the skin looks dry so a lotion is needed after bathing.

4. The effect will be seen after months of use.  If you are in a hurry to have a fairer skin, this soap is not for you.

This soap can be bought at Watson's.

Packaging: 5/5

Smell: 5/5

Effectiveness: 4/5

Price: 3/5

I am no longer using this soap as I am trying out another brand.  I will also post my review here after some time.

Snoring in Kids (Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome)

"Most people who snore don't have obstructive sleep apnea, but most people who have apnea snore."

Ctto. Got this from Pinterest, can't remember where.

Parents should not ignore snoring in kids.  To some they think that snoring is a normal thing, to others there may be underlying factors that cause a child to snore. For me, I may not have any medical knowledge, but mother's instinct tells me that snoring is bothersome.

I heard my son snore early this year. Since I heard him, I never stopped seeking for medical advice. His pediatrician advised me to observe him and see if his lip color changes as he snores, and to change his sleeping position. We were also advised to consult an ENT doctor.

The first ENT doctor who checked my son just gave him a nasal spray as he might also have an allergic rhinitis just like me. I was still not complacent about it and decided to consult another ENT doctor, my husband's doctor. Dr. Efren Gutierrez of Asian Hospital said that my son has enlarged tonsils and requested for a sleep study.

To make the long story short, the sleep study result is Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea. A not so good news indeed.

"Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder that occurs when a person's breathing is interrupted during sleep. People with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times. This means the brain -- and the rest of the body -- may not get enough oxygen." 

(http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/sleep-apnea/sleep-apnea)

When I posted my son's photo while he was being prepared for his sleep study, some told me "Okay lang yan, mawawala rin yan paglaki, ganyan din anak ko naghihilik." I'm a first time mom, and it's also my first time to hear a child snores that's why I cannot accept it as "Okay" just because other moms said so.

The truth is, not every parent is aware that a snoring child may already be suffering from a sleep disorder, unless a sleep study is done. Who would want to spend Php 20,000 for a sleep study? Good thing we have HMO that covers it. So, unless a child undergoes a sleep study and the result says "Okay, normal," I will never believe that snoring is okay, definitely not without a medical proof.

I would want to start an awareness on sleep apnea on kids here in the Philippines because I am a mother. I am one of those moms who wake up in the middle of the night to check if my kid still breathes.

How terrible it is for a mother to witness her child suddenly pauses in breathing. I was even able to count the number of seconds he was not breathing, and it was so devastating.   As per his sleep study result, in an hour, he stops breathing almost every 5 minutes while sleeping especially during the time when he is already dreaming  (REM sleep).

We consulted another pediatrician who specializes in sleep medicine because we wanted to consider CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine. They only advise to use this machine for temporary relief for kids. The machine is pricey but three times cheaper abroad. Adults are having a hard time adopting to the machine, how much more are the kids. I don't think my son can tolerate this one because he can't even last in a nebulizer. We were advised that if there are already many symptoms observed on the child, then tonsillectomy should be scheduled sooner than later.

Some of the symptoms I noticed on my son were:
1. Noisy breathing. Even if his mouth is closed, he breathes noisily that I get confused  if it's already snoring or breathing.
2. Snoring no matter what his sleeping position is. Suspine, left side, right side, on his stomach, I still hear him snore. Less snoring I hear when he sleeps on his left side and on his stomach.
3. Headache in the morning. He used to tell me upon waking up  "Mom, I'm tired, sakit ng head ko." Since I did not know before about sleep apnea, I used to answer him "Kakagising mo lang pagod  ka na? Napagod ka matulog?"
4. Gasping for breathe.  The doctor said, that when this happens, it means that his brain already awakened him so he would breathe again. According to him, this happens after he just stops breathing.

Chicken Pox (Varicella) Vaccine

Before my dad had Guillain-Barre Syndrome, my son had already completed his vaccines.

In year 2012, our company gave a free chicken pox vaccine to all the employees.  I was vaccinated once.

In December 2015, I had chicken pox.  Since I was only vaccinated once, I was still not immune to it. The good thing was, I only had few blisters, 1 on my right leg, 2 on my left leg, 1 on my right arm, 1 on my tummy, 1 on the chest, 1 at the back, and the rest are on my head. Oooops, they skipped my face! I was worried because as we age, the regeneration of our cells slow down.  Unlike those I've known who had chicken pox at a young age, after two weeks, no marks left.

After 2 weeks, my son got chicken pox too. But since he was vaccinated twice, he had a booster, he only got one blister on his leg. That's it!

Oh, now I believe the effect of the vaccines but of course, it still depends on one's immune system. It depends on how your system will react to the  sleeping or dead virus that will be injected to you.

Harrell Horne Integrated School Preschool (Kinder 1) Experience PART 3

On Lessons. I was okay with the lessons being taught until I spoke to a friend who has a son studying in Manila.  In the first quarter when the Math lesson in HHIS was counting from 1 to 20, my friend told me that his son's school was already teaching them to spell from 1 to 50. I was amazed and worried at the same time.  Does it show how advance the schools in Manila are? Does it prove that provincial schools are really left behind academically?  I do not really know.  Well, I studied in Manila,  that's all I can say.

I will transfer my son to another school in Cavite. He took an entrance exam. His Math exam was from 20 to 50, what comes before, what comes after, what comes in between, and addition.  I was nervous he might not be able to answer it as those were not taught in HHIS yet but I knew my son could already count and identify numbers from 1 to 100; I was not just sure if he could write it.  To my surprise, he did well in his Math exam. Glad that he is a self-learner.

In Reading, he was asked to read words. According to the school teacher, their Kinder 1 students are already readers. Out of 20 words, my son was not able to read 6 words, making him a frustrated reader as per the principal. They were stuck in CVC words in HHIS. My son was only able to read more than CVC words because he likes to learn on his own. Glad he will take Kinder 2 in his new school.

Harrell Horne Integrated School Preschool (Kinder 1) Experience PART 2

Grading system at Harrell Horne Integrated School.  I started to doubt about the grading system of Harrell Horne Inegrated School when I got my son's second quarter report card and yet I found a lot of my son's activities left unchecked.  How did they come up with the grades without even checking the activities? The school's explanation made me regret more why I enrolled my son there. 

For the LAS or written worksheets which is 30% of the total grade, regardless if the score is 0 or perfect, what they look after is if the child did his work without a need for prompting from the teacher. So even if my son got perfect score, if he had to play around first before answering his worksheet, his grade will be low. Even  if the child gets 0, but if the child just sits still and do as told, then a high grade will be given. I saw their grade guideline, sad I was not able to ask for a copy.  5 if no need for teacher prompting, then 4, and the lowest is 1, if the teacher keeps on prompting the student to do his work.

This, I found in Deped Kindergarten Curriculum Guide, page 9. It is part of Character and Values Development (Personal Values - Responsibility) - 
"The child takes on responsibility and accomplishes these as best he/she can. 
*Does his/her share of work in the classroom. 
*Does and finishes assigned tasks without prompting.

How come they made it as a major basis in grading a student totaling to 30%?

Harrell Horne Integrated School Cavite - Preschool (Kinder 1) Experience PART 1

I enrolled my son again for Kinder 1 at Harrell Horne Integrated School because I believed he really enjoyed studying in HHIS. BUT...I regretted it every single day that I had to bring him to school for rest of the school year.

Their supposed to be adviser left in early July for reason neither the parents nor her students know. Only when she came back in January that I learned she left for US to visit her sick mother. Since then, their teachers keep on changing. Sometimes, they have different teacher per subject, and we no longer know who their adviser is. 

It must be very stressful for 4 and 5 year old students to not know who their teacher is, and why their teachers keep on leaving. The reason given to them for this was  "Teacher is out of nowhere because of all of you," making them think it was their fault why they do not have a permanent teacher. They became the training ground of those newly graduated teachers who will be assigned in Negros Occidental.  After a month or two, when the training is over, the teacher will leave.

The progress card of preschool shows that it is based on teacher's observation, on how a child develops, how a child behaves, etc. How can a teacher observe a child if she will just stay for a month or two? In this regard, a child's behavior cannot be managed.  They wouldn't know what to do if a child misbehaves because they do not know the child well as they only stay for a short period.

Bullying at an early age. This broke my heart. My son was going home with a mark on the face, then the following day he will say that he was punched by a classmate, then another day, and another. He always tell me stories about his classmate punching him, stepping on him, but I did not hear anything from the teacher, no notes in the diary. So, I had to do it my way; I taught my son to fight back the bully because during the time when no one is there to step in, my son is the victim, helpless, with declined self-esteem. I had to break the values that I taught him, that it is never right to hurt anyone. As a mother, it is so hurtful that I had to retract what I taught him, for him to be able to learn to stand up for himself, so the bullying would stop, because inside the classroom, no one would care, even the teachers. And yes, he learned to fight back.  But where is the Anti-Bullying Campaign that should be implemented in every school?

One of his classmates even had to be brought to the hospital because of bleeding nose as a result of a punch by another classmate.  How terrible it is! No child psychologist intervention. This bullying never stopped until the last month of school year. I just didn't worry that much anymore as my son already know how to defend himself. 

The second part of my blog will discuss about the grading system of the school.

(Many times I spoke to the teachers, I wrote in the diary, but no action was taken.)

Harrell Horne Integrated School Cavite - Preschool (Nursery) Experience

We visited three different schools but my son chose Harrell Horne Integrated School because of the swimming pool that is used twice a year and the classroom with toys.
When he was Nursery at 3.5 years old, he was very playful and has a lot of tantrums, but the adviser was able to manage his and his classmates' behavior. 
My son used to hide under the table whenever he gets upset over something. But his teacher was able to handle that behavior very well that in the next quarters, I did not hear about it anymore during our Parent-Teacher conference.
I was so happy on how his social skills was developed.
Whenever I ask him what he did in school he will just answer 'play.'  He was playing but learning. I was so happy that he got a silver medal.
Not really surprised because he was performing well in school.
His teacher was indeed great in handling kids that we parents, whenever we talk about her, we just can't help but admire her and her passion. Well, no doubt, because she graduated from Philippine Normal University where the best teachers came from.

I was so happy that my son enjoyed school so I enrolled him very early (December 2014) for Kinder 1. Oh yes, I was over-excited...but excitement was replaced with disappointment. (Read my Harrell Horne Integrated School Kindergarten Experience.)